Just A Little Slip....(open)

[Crissatha Pandora]

Today sucked before she even woke up.

She had the damn nightmare again. About that bastard. About getting taken advantage of and not being strong enough...of being alone. Because wasn't she always alone? Somehow...

And woke up with an actual shriek. Dammit. Stupid dream. She hated that nightmare. She hated it with a fiery passion because that asshole was dead. Shouldn't he be actually leaving her alone? Like...permanently? She wished that were the case. It would make life so much easier if she never had to deal with him again. If she never had to relive the worst...okay one of the worst nights of her life. She could still feel the bark against her back...the hopelessness...the pain of dying...and fear of being alone.

She could still remember that total nothiningness before she was brought back into the world of the living. She shuddered and pushed the black covers off of herself and sat up. Shaking her head she stood, padding silently over to the window. She lifted the corner of the heavy curtain carefully and saw that the sun had set and not too long ago. The moon was just beginning to shine. Lovely. THe mirror was her next stop and she was being careful, trying not to wake up her roommate. She slipped off the oversized black shirt she wore to bed, the one that proclaimed "Scientific Theory Proven: The World Does Revolve Around Me" and slipped open her drawers. After careful consideration she pulled out a simple black halter with no adornments, nothing special about it. Because she didn't feel like going all out today. Add to that ensemble ripped up black jeans and her usual black fingerless gloves and she was good to go.

Barefoot again. She needed to feel the cool tile under her feet as she walked, feel the wet dew off the grass as she made her way through campus under the moonlight. It was warm out, which was refreshing to the red after such a horribly long winter that had held the grounds captive for as long as they had.

She was headed to the Rec Hall. She figured that actually working out her anger issues would be a good idea. Besides she had missed too many of her work outs to keep up her gymnastics skills. She needed to get back into the habit again. And what better way then to work a reoccuring nightmare from her conscious? It made sense to her really.

She entered the deserted building. Jeez, looked like no one else rose early. Not that Cris was an early riser unless the dammed dream forced it into her. SHe hated waking before the sun was fully set. Among other things, it entirely went against her nature. She was not supposed to be around when the sun was up, it meant death. ANd Cris kinda wasn't in the mood to die again. No thank you. She walked down the tiled hall, her head tilted slightly as she dead. It was kind of weird to see the place so deserted.

But it gave her time to think. Time to think about a lot. No one was around to really make her watch what she thought, no one was around to make her stop thinking. The group was falling apart. Luxy thought that she was abandoning him. Nyx seemed to have abandoned the House. She was loosing her sanity. And she kept having the dammed dream. Maybe it was safe to say that life sucked. But what could she do about it? That was what she wondered often. What could she do about it? She wasn't the type to want to go out of her way to fix things. She tended to sit back and just watch as the world went to hell. It wasn't the nicest thing to do, but it was Cris. And she didn't change for anyone.

Her latest train of thought as to how to fix it? Non existant. She just tried to keep herself busy enough. Otherwise she went feral and lost it.

She hated when that happened.

Cris made her way to her usual work out room and padded silently over to the corner to put her iPod on the dock so she could blast her music. Because, lets face it, you couldn't do a reutine withou the music that went along with it. It was like dancing to the music in your head, you could do it but it just didn't work out exactly how it should.

She sighed. Someone probably put it back in the closet. She suppressed a shudder at the thought. She hated the closet. With a firey passion. It was the same size as her mother's "Thinking Room" so Cris avoided it when all possible. She could suck it up though. She needed her music to calm down and to perform her reutine...so she could deal with life.

She wished she had heard the footsteps behind her though while she was rummaging around in that damned small space. But she was too focused...and the way she noticed was when someone actually shoved her in the damn closet. She spun around to get the hell out of there but the door closed on her face and trying the handle resulted in her finding the door locked. She banged on it to hear obnoxious laughter on the other side.

This was why she hated Cindy fucking Secret. No one took her seriously anymore. No one was actually scared of her anymore. They thought she was a pushover. SHe hated this, she was going to kill someone over this! She pounded at the door. "Let me the hell out!" she yelled, pounding on the door.

She took a step back when she got no answer. And realized how small the space she was in really was. A numb feeling began to creep up her arms and she rubbed them fervently, trying to rid herself of that feeling. No...no...she would not...have another dammed...panic attack. Not here...not now...she couldn't handle it. She could practically feel her heart in her chest. "Fuck you bitches, let me the hell out!" she yelled again. SHe needed out...she needed out....

She leaned back against the back wall as the world started to spin. She was dizzy...dammit...another one...she slid down the wall before standing and starting to pace. She was fidgety but she needed out of here! It was closing in...it was all closing in...getting smaller...she couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. THE ROOM WAS SHRINKING She needed out. Now. She started to shake as the serious fear took over her body, making her quiver and she paced still, even though she threatened to topple over with the dizziness that was wracking her body.

She needed out...now...her heart was pounding, her arms were numb and the damned room was getting smaller! Her breath quickened, she blinked again, trying to clear it but it was no use.

She could hear her mother in her head...telling her what a horrible child she was...she should have never been born. She was better off dead...dead...She was going to die. She was going to die. She needed to get that thought out of her head! She shook her head, in an attempt to clear it...but that only made her more dizzy and she fell with a thud. She leaned back against the wall. Unable to stand.


She needed out...before she went mad...

Notes: Ooooh Crazy Cris...I should be nicer to my charries. Oh well lol. Writing the panic attack actually made me dizzy ><
Muse: Good
Words: 1330

[xander]

Concentrate Xander...At least that was what Xander was thinking as he sat on his dorm room floor. He was trying to lose himself inside his mind, focus and meditate but as of lately, it was so hard for him to do. All he could think about was how messed up things had been. He shook his head as he sat there eyes closed and crossed legged. I will maintain my focus...I will maintain my focus...He heard a big flap of wings outside his window and he stood now cursing himself for not being able to shut himself out, What type of martial artist couldn't successfully meditate under extreme duress? He needed to get his head together, so he decided he would go practice in the Rec hall.

He went over to his bed, not bothering to check by the window because he didn't want to see the Raven mocker that was probably there flying over his dorm. He shrugged as he pulled on a black tee that had been lying there, he was already wearing gray sweat pants he didn't need to put on much else. The tee fit him nicely showing the lines of his abs but he didn't care much, it was pretty hard to focus on girls when every five seconds you have to worry about the leader of your own school trying to make you part of his legion of darkness. Xander scoffed as he opened the door to his room, grabbing a bottle of water and closing the door behind him. He would never join Kalona he would rather die first, A lot of kids would say my parents taught me better than that. Xander didn't even know who his parents were.

The sun was setting now so it was okay for him to be walking about the grounds. He had on flip flops and he could feel the wet of the grass against his toes. He looked up and saw the moon and smiled, He liked the moon. It was a beautiful opalescent orb that hung for all to see and sometimes the dreamer in him wanted to reach up and grab it, not that that would ever be possible but he could dream right? So many cultures and religions worshiped the moon or so he had read. He read a lot. especially about History.

He caught sight of the Raven mocker that had been flying above his dorm and he shot a glare at it, it wasn't looking at him but still he couldn't help himself. Those accursed things had over run the school and now they were everywhere. He shrugged, remembering that he needed a plan before he could do anything about it and he walked into the Rec hall.

As he walked in someone bumped into him, running down the hall and out the door snickering

"Hey! Watch it! He said back against the wall, he couldn't understand some people sometimes, What reason would they have for acting that way, Xander walked in about to put one of his blue head phones in his ear when he heard a strange noise coming from the closet.

He looked around saw no one else there and he looked at the door strangely. Had someone left there cat in the closet? If they did they certainly were stupid. Xander was wary of opening the door, the last time he attempted to save something or someone he had died. He got closer and then her heard someone screaming, it was a girl! someone had locked a girl in the closet! He pulled the door open to see the girl sitting there hugging herself looking like she was guna go crazy, she was red like him too. He got down on his knees the door wide open now and said

"Hey..it's okay, your not stuck...you can come out now..your safe"Xander stood up now. standing back so that the girl could get out if she wanted, he felt so horrible that she had been locked in there, he remembered the person who had been snickering and he shook his head. The nerve of some people he couldn't understand why someone would want to harm this girl. He looked at her and waited, ready to help her if she needed it, he had all the time in the world and it looked like she was deserving of it today.


((758, not as long as yours but its something lol))

[Crissatha Pandora]

She was going mad. Slowly. She was going mad. Dammit she needed out of here! She was loosing it. She pulled her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around herself as she shook, unable to stop the trembling that wracked her weary body. It was too much. The nightmare. Being stuck in here. She was loosing it. She felt like the small room was closing in on her. Her breathing was labored, she could hear her heart and could practically feel it beating in her mouth. She needed out. Now. Please now.


The room was still getting smaller. She was going to die. She was going to die. Was the air getting thinner in here? She was going to suffacate wasn't she? What a hellish way to die! She didn't want to die here in a dammed closet in the early morning. She had already been panicked before getting shoved into the closset so now she was worse and getting much much worse. It was bad. She hadn't had an attack this bad in the longest time if she was thinking she was going to die. Cris's rational brain went out the window when she lost her mind like this in a panic attack.

She tended to spaz out and attack anyone who rescued her. Please soon...please soon...before she hurt the person who found er. She didn't want to go feral again. Never wanted to go feral again...

She felt herself slipping, her mind trying to protect itself by burrowing deeper in. She needed out. The room was spinning when she dared to open her eyes. Her breathing was heavy. She couldn't calm down. She felt like she was going to die. It was a full fledged panic attack...she hadn't had one this bad in ages.

Dammed claustrophobia.

She couldn't even hear anyone else approaching the closet, thats how loud her heart was beating in her ears, how far gone she was. She felt the cool rush of air. Wait...cool rush of air? Did that mean...She looked up, head swiming, spots in her eyes to see someone standing there adn....miracle of miracles...The Door Was Open But the small movement made her groan and lower her head. That little movement had made her nauseous.

Great. She couldn't move and she wouldn't get better until she was outta here.

"Yeah...thanks..." she grated out in a harsh voice and then winced. Way to greet your savior. Damn she didn't even know who the hell had rescued her. She knew it was male, but that was more from the voice then from her swimming vision. She couldn't see very well with the dizzy's wracking her. Everything spun when she bothered to actually look up.

And now one more person had to fucken know her weakness, didn't they? She needed help getting the hell out of here...dammit. She didn't like feeling weak. She hated feeling weaka. She was so weak right now. Fuck.

He said she was safe and a very weary laugh that wasn't a laugh at all passed her lips. "Safe...right" she said in that weary, dizzy voice of hers. Way to meet a new person. She hoped it was a new person. She couldn't recognize the voice. Great, new person thinks of her like this. Way to make an impression. But she needed help up. She sighed, hating what she was about to say.

" 'M claustrophobic...I kinda....need help" she said reluctantly, still not looking up to even see what this boy who had saved her looked like. But she was still sane enough. He had gotten her soon enough.

Thank the Goddess.

[xander]

Xander was standing there confused. He didn't understand why someone would have locked this poor girl in the closet. He shook his head thinking about that guy who had been laughing as he ran and bumped into on the way out. That must of been the asshole who did this? What a dick. Xander left the room for a moment walking to the door and and looking outside to see if the guy was still around but, he was no where to be found. Xander cursed himself hitting the wall and then he walked back into the room to find something very odd. The girl was still in the closet. He didn't get it.

He moved over to back to the closet and got down on his knees and looked at the girl who was still huddled in the back of the closet, Why didn't she come out? She didn't wanna be in there did she? She thanked him and Xander shook his head and said

"There's no need to thank me..I just wish I would have got the guy who did it..he bumped me on the way out, had I known I would have done something"He said with a little bit of a guilty shrug, he felt bad for not doing anything to do that guy, but he could remedy it by helping this girl now, he just wanted her to get her out of the closet.

She said something about safe but it came out low and he didn't really understand it. He stood there taking her in, the hazy blue eyes and he wondered what was up. Had the guy drugged her too? The thought made his blood boil.

Then she spoke and he realized what was up, the girl was claustrophobic, Immediately without even saying anything he scooped her up out of the closet and brought her over to a counter he sat her up there, It was really easy for him, he was very strong and she didn't weigh much to him.

"I'm sorry about that..I hadn't realized that you were claustrophobic...Do you need anything? Water? ...blood?"He asked in a low voice, now that he had gotten her out of the closet, he could tell that she was red like him and he almost always had blood on him, it was better a blood packet then one of his class mates, He realized then that he was really close to her face and he backed away to give her space, she obviously needed it.

[Crissatha Pandora]

He said one word...just one word...if that boy said one word about her claustropbobia she would have hit him, dizziness be damned. Pity and Cris did not mix well. She tended to punch out whoever pitied her. Or get damn well pissed. She would have tensed if she thought she could get enough control over herself to do so, instead she winced, waiting to see if he would react to what she had said..how she had sounded so weak admitting her weakness like that...

But instead he scooped her up out of the closet. Normally anyone who picked her up was just asking for her to hurt them. But she was in no shape to even threaten anyone. Plus, the movement did not bode well for the naseau that had begun to settle in her stomach. So instead of getting hit, he got a different reaction from Cris. She buried her face against him, not caring if he took it the wrong way or some such crap, she just really needed to stop seeing the world moving while he moved her away from the hell room.

So hiding her face against something solid it was. And to focus her mind on something else entirely, she focused on the fact that this kid seemed damn fit. Huh. Wonder if he worked out or some such crap. She let her mind wander down that path. It may have seemed shallow to anyone else after going through something like that, but it was a good way to distract Cris from what had just gone on.

"Dun be sorry...couldn't have known" she muttered when he set her down. Damn she felt drunk, slurring her words as she did, but it was hard to focus after a panic attack. And the adrenaline was still making her shaky and the shakes weren't helping the whole world spinning issue. She blinked slowly, tryiing to focus throuogh the shakes. Her knees were pulled back up onto the counter so that she could hide her face in them again and shut out the spinning world.

"Second option would be awesome" she said, sparing a shaky smile for him before burying her face back in her knees. She was trying to be nice to the boy who had saved her from loosing her mind, but it was hard when she still felt like she was loosing it. The blood would help in all truth, it would focus her a little bit more.

And take the going mad option away, because panic attacks tended to cause her to go totally insane. She wished she could focus long enough to watch this boy, even see what he looked like...but that would have to wait a little longer she supposed. "'M Cris. Thanks again." she muttered out around her knees.

[xander]

Xander really didn't understand people sometimes. He didn't know how someone could have done this to this poor girl. She seemed nice enough, so why try and do this to her? Had the person known she was claustrophobic? He shook off the thought, if they had it only made it worse! He shook his head again. She had leaned into him when he carried her over and he let her, he would be her support if she needed it, since he found her, he felt that she was his responsibility. He didn't mind being responsible for her either, especially since now he was noticing she was actually very pretty. Her words sounded slurred as she told him that he couldn't have known.

"Your right. I couldn't have but unfortunately for me that won't stop me from feeling responsible, It's who I am"He shut up after he said that, She hadn't asked who he was or anything like that, this wasn't a friendly first meeting this was him helping someone and she didn't need to hear his life story especially since his life was a mystery to him, so what could he explain really? Exactly nothing.

She asked for the blood sounding a little better as she said it and he nodded pulling the baggie out of his pocket. He was glad he always carried it, now he would be able to help her. He was full at the moment so he wouldn't be needing it, it was good to put it to use.

'Here, It's like lukewarm so sorry...I always carry it just in case..For like emergencies"he said as he handed the bag to her. He hoped she didn't like hers with a straw because that's the one thing he didn't have, he decided to say that because he thought it might make her laugh "I hope you don't need a straw because that's one thing this convenience store does not carry"he said with a smile

She was all huddled up but that was okay and he smiled when she said her name and thanked him. Cris. he liked that, it sounded sort of cool. "I'm Xander...and it was my pleasure"he said with a warm smile.

[Crissatha Pandora]

"Well ain'cha a gen'leman" she muttered, her words still mumbled and slurred because she couldn't get enough control over herself and her shivering shakes to manage to talk right. "Dun gotta be a gen'leman to a brat like me, though" She said, downing herself again but it was the truth. Cris knew she was a total brat and that was just kinda the way she was. It was how she had ended up in the closet after all. It wasn't like she made many friends. She didn't intend to either. She didn't give a fuck if people liked her or not, she was just herself.

He seemed abnormally nice for a boy. He could have opened the door for her and left. Hell he could have not opened the door at all. But he had carried her out of there and now was being incredibly nice to her and it was slightly bizarre. She wasn't used to it. Was he new here? He had to be if he hadn't heard about her bitchy reputation yet. She thought everyone here knew about her and her icy stare. And lately her tendency to go feral far too easy.

"I 'ficially love you" she muttered, peeking over her knees to take the blood. And it was warm too! Why the hell was he appologizing about that. She liked it warm. The cold stuff tasted like shit. She refused to take it out of the baggy usually, it was her one prissy tendency. She preffered a mug and a microwave. But that was more from her odd need to feel like a normal person who hadn't died. Nothing weird about that. She riped it open and sucked it down far too quick but instantly she felt better. Well not instantly. But it was nice to slowly feel her heart slow down so that she didn't feel like it was going to beat out of her chest. The shakes that had been wracking her body moments before stopped.

She decided to chance opening her eyes and was relieved to see the world stopped moving. She let out a relievevd sigh and actually took in her savior boy with ice blue eyes. She brushed her red bangs from her face so that she could actually see and coouldn't resist looking him over once. What? She was female! She was allowed to check out guys. And he wasn't bad looking himself. "Xander? Cool name" she said, her words were still a little slurred, but at least now her chin was propped up on her knees and she wasn't hiding behind them. She wanted to try and be nice at least.

[xander]

Xander sort of half smiled when she said he was a gentleman. He shrugged, he guessed he was one, there was nothing wrong with it either. There weren't many of them lfet in this world and Xander sort of prided himself on being one. When she said that he didn't need to be gentleman to a brat like her, he sort of stopped and frowned then looked closer at her and realized he knew who she was. Cris..how could he have not recognized the name. She was one of those brat pack girls! HE always sort of admired them, the way they stood up and rebelled against the school, This girl may be a brat but that didn't mean in any way shape or form that she didn't deserve common courtesy and a gentleman to come along here and there.

"I am a gentleman yes, there are only so many of us left in the world so...Why not be one ya know? Also...I don't care if you think your a brat..the whole school thinks your a brat, It doesn't matter to me...You deserve a little kindness just like everyone else in this world"he said with a smile and a shrug. He was just explaining how he thought about it and hopefully it would make her feel a little better. The way she had said it made it seem like she was pretty down and having what just happened to her happen, probably wasn't going to help at all


She said she officially loved him a slightly slurred way but Xander didn't really notice it , all he did was grin and Blush a bit. He liked making people happy, especially girls. He watched her drink and he noted how she already looked a little better. Some color was beginning to return to her face and that was definitely a good sign. She wasn't completely better and he was pretty sure that it would take a few minutes before she got completely better but that was okay, he would wait with her for as long as she needed and then he would leave if she wanted him too. He had of course come here to practice but he could always go practice by the east wall or the forest, it was no big.

"Well I am very flattered but...It's nothing...Carrying blood around is a good idea when your red...I just really take mine from the tunnels and usually nuke it before leaving sometimes...No need for love..but I am very flattered to have earned it from someone so pretty"She was really pretty, even all huddled up like she was, that's the thing Kids around here all talked about her like they were scared of her but at the same time, well at least with the guys,they all kinda said she was a sort of scary hot. At least the ones he knew said that. He didn't see the scary but the hot certainly projected through.

She said his name was cool and he sort of shrugged and smiled. He had always been called Xander even when his name was still Alexander. He never liked being called Alex, So people took the bottom half of his name instead. He liked her name, it was originally, she had only said her name was Cris but since now he recognized her, he knew that her name was in fact Crissatha, which was all sorts of wicked cool. "Eh, it seems rather plain to me..yours is much more interesting...Crissatha is cool"that would probably tip her off that he knew who she was.Oh well it wouldn't change anything he was still here to help her and he would continue until she asked him to go.

[Crissatha Pandora]

He said that the whole school may thing that she's a brat...did that mean he knew who she was yet? She was kind of insulted if he didnt, last time Cris checked she had a reputation at this school. One she apparently needed to reaffirm when she thought she could stand without her knees deciding to buckle under her. The room was still having slight spinning issues and it was driving her a tad nuts. She hated dealing with the after effects of a panic attack. It drove her crazy...literally usualy. If this boy hadn't actually found her first that is. "Hmmm refreshing view points...kinda optimistic for this world though" she mumbled, still not feeling entirely up to being her real self just yet.

She decided to take a chance and lower her legs so that they were hanging off the edge of the counter like a normal persons when they sat on a counter. Her hands shifted to grip the edge of the counter, trying to adjust to this new change in equilibrium when her body was so sensitive to it. It drove her nuuuuts. He said that it was normal for a red to carry around blood when she set aside the now empty blood bag and she managed a slightly sarcastic smirk, not her usual caliber but she was out of it, so sue her. "O'viously I'm not to prone to good ideas" she said, still annoyed with the slight slurring her voice was doing. She swept her bright red bangs off her face for a moment to show her mark, just now realizing he may not know that.

He called her pretty and commented on her saying I love you and she rested her back against the wall that sat behind her with a bit of an exhausted sigh, but she was smiling slightly, she was keeping the icy bitchy comments at bay considering he had saved her, but when a boy complemented her...it was oh so easy to not be bitchy. "Well thanks, you ain't that bad yourself" she said, just now getting enough of a hold of her dizzies to actually look him over. Not bad? The boy was totally hot and totally worked out or something. Damn, she could deal with being locked away if her savior would be this hot. Not that she approved of being locked away.

"Well I like it" she said, starting to regain her voice now that the shakes had completely died down. It left her pretty dammed exhausted but she would bounce back soon enough really so she didn't worry too much about it.

And then he called her Crissatha and just one of her eyebrows rose in the "Oh really now?" look. So he had finally figured out who she was? Maybe she didn't have to solidify her reputation after all. "Thanks. Picked it out myself." she said. So then she got curious. And couldn't help but ask her next question.

I mean it was a valid question to ask when he had just adressed her by her full first name when she had given him a nickname. But how to phrase it. She wanted to know what hte hell he had heard. But she couldn't figure out how to ask really, her mind didn't always work the way it should when she was panicked and locked in phobia mode or comming off of being such. "So my reputation preceeds me" she finally just said, not asking after all. Oh well, she could find out later when she remembered how to stand.

[xander]

When she said his view points were refreshing, he didn't know whether to smile or frown. He liked that she thought they were refreshing, but the fact that view points before his,weren't kind of just made him angry. He chose to smile,

Then she said that his view were a little optimistic for this world and he smirked and scoffed a bit. Hell she was right, but that was Xander, ever the optimist. He had always been, ever since he was a little boy. When kids would tell him that he would never find out who his parents were, he wouldn't listen because he knew in his heart that they would find them or they would find him. The thought made him laugh now.

At least he had retained some of his optimism right? Because Xander no longer had any romantic notions about the parents he didn't remember.

" Your right they are...but see that's kinda the point...I figure with the world we live in...we need a little optimism...helps me at least." He smiled as he said it. Smiles sort of go with optimism at least they did the last he checked

She lowered her legs slowly and Xander watched her carefully. Just to make sure that she didn't fall over or anything and although she moved slow. She didn't fall. That meant she was getting better and that was a good thing, He smiled when she said she obviously wasn't prone to good ideas. Sarcasm, now that was the Cris he had heard about.

"If you think so...A lot of the reds don't carry around blood...at least most of the ones I know...but then again they go Feral way less often..."he said with a shrug, that was a problem of Xander's he always had trouble with being Feral and sometimes even the focus and meditation he got from his martial arts wasn't enough to keep him from going. He hated it.

When she said he wasn't that bad himself. Xander grinned. It had been awhile since he had flirted with anyone and that was mainly because he no longer had time and most of the people here at this school didn't talk to him because he kept to himself. He shrugged, it wasn't like he hadn't tried to make friends. He found himself to be a very easy going guy. He

"thanks...I try"he said with a bashful little shrug.

She said she liked his name and he shrugged. " I like it too but it's really nothing special, anyone could be named Xander."

She said she picked it out herself and he laughed. He had figured that she did. He smiled and said" I figured...Does it mean something?"He asked curiously, it was exotic sounding so he figured it might mean something

She said something else then and he wasn't sure how to respond. "my reputation precedes me" he sort of just looked at her. He wasn't sure, if it was a question but he was going to answer it like it was one. He smirked and said

"Well...I'm not sure yet...You haven't tried to hit me yet, nor have you tried to curse me out or dismember me...OH but when it came your attractiveness...it totally doesn't precede you...because you far surpass what they said"he said with a wink, he was being flirty yes, but could you blame him? don't think so.

[Crissatha Pandora]

Cris didn't mean to let it slip out but she couldn't help but let out a scoff at what he said. It was more at the world then what he said but she made no moves to correct herself right away because she wasn't they type of girl to soothe other people's feelings even when it was probably the best idea to do so. Oh well, he could deal. Seemed he knew her reputation anyway. "I'll leave the optimism to you than" she said, looking up at him again. Her vision was still a little off, and she was still weak as a fragile little girl but oh well. She would still be herself.

He made the comment about all of the other red and she nodded. And then immediately regretted it with a groan and pressing the heel of her palm to her temple. Ow. That had kinda hurt. Headache seemed to be settling in. Well that was just dandy now wasn't it, she scowled at herself. And then she focused back in on her words. "Than I really am not partial to good ideas" she said with another smirk, still not up to her usual caliber but she would stop beating herself up about that. It wasan't her fault she had been stuffed into a closset. Though it probably was somehow. Something she did or something. "I go feral real easy" she explained softly. Not because it was a secret, but speaking softly meant she didn't slur.

She smirked. He was cute and he obviously wasn't one of those self centered asses who knew they were hot and thought they were god's gift to women. Those pissed her off. This type she could handle. And she often did, she thought with a grin and suppressing the amont of times she had been called a whore this month. Whatever, she did as she pleased. Screw them. Ew, not literally though. She shook her head. Ow. Another bad idea...note to self: stop moving head. "You're welcome" she said, sad to note the slight slur still in her damn voice.

Cris shrugged then and decided not to fight with him about his name anymore. It was just annoying to her to fight about stuff like that. If he wanted to think that it wasn't special, he could think that. She wasn't going to mess around with that stuff. Personal opinion and blah blah. She grinned widely though when she was asked about her own name. Did it mean anything? "Nope, just thought it sounded cool" was her unhesitating answer. She didn't lie about stuff like that.

Cris totally wanted to stand up now. Because she hated feeling like an invalid, even though that would have ended poorly. Which was why it was good that he distracted her by answering her unasked question about what he had heard about her by reputation. It made her laugh, her usual sarcastic laugh, not her unashamedly amused laugh because that hurt her head and she was making a point to be careful about that right now. "Well that sounds about right" was her answer. And then she winked playfully right back at him, feeling much better now despite her slight headach that wouldn't leave her alone. "And thanks for that, Xander" she said in response to the hidden, or rather not so hidden, compliment that he paid her.

[xander]

Cris said that she would leave the optimism to him than and he frowned a little bit. This world could do with a whole lot more optimism from everyone but Xander just shrugged, He couldn't force her to be like him and he wouldn't wanna force her anyway, Who wanted to be the kid who had no past? "Leave it to me..it's one of the only things I'm good at"

He smiled as he said it and stuffed his hands in his pockets and smiled at her, She seemed to be getting better and that was making him happy, if he ever saw the guy that did this to her, he didn't know what he was going to do.

She said she wasn't partial to good ideas, and he was about to say something until she mentioned that she went Feral very easily and he looked down, He knew how that felt, when he died he had been feral for a very long time. He frowned. "Me too...That's why I always carry blood..i don't wanna hurt anyone"

Xander looked down after he said that, feeling a bit awkward at the memories of all the people he had hurt when he was feral. some of the people he had killed...She shook off the thought he didn't want to be dismal or upset at the moment. He didn't need to wallow in self pity at the moment.

He smiled when she said your welcome, Just because he could, he noted the small slur in her voice and he frowned a bit. Maybe she wasn't doing as good as he thought she was. "You alright?"he asked in a low voice

She said that her name didn't mean anything and he nodded, Well he had thought that it meant something. "It's cool either way"

She laughed when he made his sarcastic comment about her reputation and he grinned, he liked that he had made her laugh and she thanked him for his compliment"No thanks necessary I only speak the truth..Guys told me you were hot but they didn't do you justice"

He should really stop flirting but he didn't want too, he was very much enjoying standing here with her.

[Crissatha Pandora]

"Nah I think you're pretty good at saving damsels in distress too" she said with a smirk, obvioously teasing him. He was painfully humble and that just made Cris want to tease him even more then she already had, weakened state or not. She liked to tease people and be a pain in the butt, but she was keeping it light with this one, well he had saved her life afterall. She had to at least pretend to behave herself a little bit, didn't she? Well, she was bad at doing that, but still feeling like crap after a panic attack helped her to play nice at least.

"Good to know I'm not the only one" she said softly, to avoid slurring mostly but also because it wasn't something she liked to admit. Ever. Well, at least she doubted he could say he had killed someone, but with Reds....well who knew really? It was up in the air. All reds were different and had different issues. Like Cris's tendency to loose it easy...or her claustrophobia. OR the fact that she was going to tear appart whoever had shoved her in the closset. As soon as she thought she could stand upright that is.

He asked if she was alright and her head shot up though she immediately groaned and pushed the heel of her palm to her temple. Ow. You have a headache, idiot. Stop moving your head. She mentally chastized herself and would have hit her head against something, if not for...well hell she had a headache. Duh. So instead she settled for wincing. "I'm fine. Head is killing me. But I'm fine' she said, making a conscious effort not to slur so that way he wouldn't ask her if she was fine again. She hated that.

She grinned when he basically said that she was hotter then what people said. Aww, well he was sweet at least. Then again, he had saved her from a closet so of course he was sweet. But he was also being a total flirt. Which she could totally live with. She liked flirts, they were always so much fun. Being that Cris ehrself was a total flirt and couldn't seem to stop doing so if it would save her life. She liked flirting, what could she say? Boys were fun. "Well ain't you a flirt" she said, lazy grin in place as she leaned back to gently rest her head n the wall behind her. "You're pretty hot yourself, now that I can see around the spots." she said with a slight shrug, but she meant it.